By Chris Lees | The Daily Mercury
MACKAY City Hawks player Nabako Stow captained his team and won best on ground during the curtain-raiser to the Indigenous All Stars and West Coast Eagles game.
He spent a week in Perth as part of Rio Tinto's Footy Means Business program, which provides talent and employment opportunities for 50 young Indigenous men from throughout Australia.
Stow took the time to chat to Daily Mercury journalist Chris Lees about his week in Perth.
How was the game?
It was pretty good. After spending a week with the 50-odd boys and bonding with them all week, it was good to get out there and go head-to-head with the opposition.
It was great to just get out there and kick the ball around with my teammates and see how they all played.
It was a good feeling, winning - we won by 50-odd points.
How did you play during the game?
I went all right. I was playing as an attacking back flanker. I was actually named captain of the side. I was using my voice to lead the men around the park. It was great having everyone on the same page and directing the blokes.
How was the week as a whole?
Every morning we woke up about 6 and didn't get to bed until about 11.
It was really flat-out with meetings, training and other programs to do with developing as young men. It was just a really good week.
What did you get out of the experience?
I got a lot of confidence, especially speaking in front of 50-odd blokes and sharing your opinions and what's on your mind.
I also got to know more about the pathways outside of footy. It showed the reality that you don't have a long footy career and you need something behind you to carry on with life.
For me it showed just what opportunities are out there for young men. You just have to put yourself out there and put your hand up and try something new.
Once you try something new it pushes you out of your comfort zone, it's good to try anything.
What would you like to do with your footy?
I'm just taking it as it comes at the moment. On Friday it was my first game of the year and it was good to have a good hit-out.
I just want to finish off the pre-season, get fit and look forward to Melbourne and playing in an curtain-raiser to the Dreamtime at the G game (between Essendon and Richmond). If something comes up in Melbourne that would be good, but we'll see.
Are you looking forward to your time in Melbourne?
It will be an awesome experience again and they promote it as the reward week after the week in Perth.
I'm not too sure what to expect, but just playing in front of all those people at the G (MCG) will be unreal.
I think just to get together again as a bunch of young men, have a laugh and have a kick will be awesome. This has been a really good program, it's just awesome that they get all these boys from the far reaches of Australia and get them on the same page.
How was it meeting some of the best indigenous players in the AFL?
It was awesome to rub shoulders with the superstars of the AFL and sort of just hang out and mingle with them on a low-key level.
They just asked questions about you and where you're from. It was awesome to just talk on the same sort of level as the people that you look up to and everyone goes to the footy to see. It was an awesome experience and pretty cool to see how they operate and what it takes to make it.
Last Modified on 13/03/2015 10:13